From the Met Gala to the Golden Globes, from New York Fashion Week to Vanity Fair’s storied Oscar party, photographer Landon Nordeman offers viewers a rare invitation to go beyond the velvet rope. Nordeman’s images offer glimpses into those exclusive evenings yet are always grounded in the unguarded human moments found beneath the glamour. “Last Night,” a new exhibition of Nordeman’s work, opens at the Leica Gallery New York on June 26 and runs through July 27, and ushers visitors into a rather disarmingly intimate and playful world beyond the dazzle.
“Each photograph had to add something a little extra to the story in ‘Last Night.’ Redundancy is our worst enemy. Like a good party, the selection of images has a life and rhythm that shares a story of what it might be like to be one of the many guests invited to the party,” Michael Foley, Leica Gallery New York’s gallery director, tells Vanity Fair of curating the show.
Nordeman’s signature flash renders moments otherwise lost in the shadowed corners of a party, suspending them in crystalline stillness. At times, the photograph’s subject dissolves into the frame, giving way to the surreal drama of a garment or the poetry of a gesture—a breath caught mid-sentence, hands encircling a waist, a glance half-shared. “It’s easy to see the perceived rich and fancy as visual piñatas when caught off-guard, observed in unflattering moments. I think Landon sees the humanity in these partygoers,” Foley says. Nordeman sees not just with a camera, but with an instinct for the ephemeral; the decisive moment does not escape him, it arrives luminous within his frame.
There’s tension running through all of Nordeman’s photographs—a push and pull between glamour and revelation. In one striking image, he captures performance artist Amanda Lepore, effortlessly draped against a bar. His flash casts a sharp shadow across her face, obscuring her eyes, while the background, and much of her body, disappears into the folds of a black velvet dress. What remains are her most recognizable features: her sculptural blonde bob, cherry red lips, and unmistakable silhouette. Though done with reverence, Nordeman renders her almost as a caricature. He knows she’s beautiful—and he knows exactly what the viewer is looking for. In the end, he doesn’t just expose Lepore; he exposes the gaze itself.
While editing Nordeman’s work at the 2024 Oscar party, I was struck by a portrait of actor Joey King, seemingly mid-gasp in a laugh. At first glance, the image feels humorous, even lighthearted. But the longer I’ve sat with it, the more moving it has become. Nordeman caught the subject in a genuine, unfiltered moment of expression. It feels like a rare, unguarded burst of joy, disarming in its honesty. This photograph feels singular to the space and Nordeman’s eye.
With “Last Night,” Nordeman redefines the party photo. His work is less about who was there, and more about how it felt to be there. His images capture not just fashion and flash, but fleeting moments of humanity amid the spectacle. It’s not about spectacle for spectacle’s sake, but about what lingers after the lights dim. “What separates Landon’s approach to the familiar ‘party picture’ genre is his eye for nuance with a touch of sympathy. It’s too easy to make pictures at parties where you catch someone at a disadvantage, almost unfairly. A photographer could do that all night. Landon looks for subtle visual plays punctuated by vibrant colors,” Foley says.
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